


To Know, Water

by lessiehanamoray



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Akiren Week, Fishing, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2020-01-11 23:10:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18434063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lessiehanamoray/pseuds/lessiehanamoray
Summary: Akira goes fishing on a dreary evening with Morgana to relax before a major heist.  Here he explains why it relaxes him, and finds himself netting a huge fish!  Takes place in November, with minor spoilers.





	To Know, Water

**Author's Note:**

> Clearly, I am not running on time. Anyway, just a short little scene for AkiRen week. The prompt was to write/draw a scene of him relaxing.

“And why are we going fishing again?” the black and white cat demanded.

Akira Kurusu shrugged. Morgana had been griping about this all evening, and he got why. The day of their, theoretically, final heist approached after all. All the phantom thieves were tense.

“I need a quiet place to relax.”

“Leblanc’s quiet,” the not cat grumbled.

"No really."

Futaba did a good job staying calm in the Metaverse, but in reality she kept going over the plan in nervous repetition. After all, she constantly reminded him, if their assumption was correct, then everything had to go perfectly. If thing went wrongs, Akira would die. 

To Akira Kurusu, the daring leader of the phantom thieves, that made for too many “ifs” to freak out over. Whenever Futaba starting panicking, he just asked her if she felt confident about her part. She assured him she had bugged the phone correctly. That was all he needed. They had done their best, and he had faith in both his team and in Makoto’s older sister. 

“I guess. It hate it when when Mr. Detective Prince randomly shows,” Morgana compalined. “He’s worse than a wandering shadow.”

Akira sighed. Despite their fears, he still refrained from bad mouthing the young detective, and newest member of the phantom thieves, behind his back. Sure, he was clearly keeping secrets, but Akira felt there was a palpable sorrow to Goro Akechi. And a sharp, focused, anger to Crow’s fighting style. Better to try and really be friends, and trusting teammates, than simply push him away. 

“I think it’s comforting,” Akira muttered.

“Like fishing in the rain?”

“Exactly.”

Akira waved at the old man who rented out fishing gear at the pond.

“Wasn’t sure you were coming,” the man replied.

“I hear fish like dreary weather.” Akira pulled out his wallet.

“True enough.” The man looked up to the cloud-coated sky. “Good night to catch a big one.” He carefully took Akira’s money, and grinned at the young man. “You might even have the strength to reel it in.” He pulled out the gear Akira had earned from fishing prizes, including the nicest rod in the place. “Have fun.”

Akira folded his umbrella so he could hold everything. He also pulled up his hood to keep the drizzle off his glasses.

“Do you even need those?” Morgana asked, head just out of his bag. “Seems a hassle in the rain.”

Akira began setting up in his favorite spot. “I’m near sighted.”

“Really? You don’t wear them all the time though.”

“Don’t need to,” Akira confirmed, casting his line. “But it’s hard to read signs or notes on the board without them.”

“Huh.” Morgana nestled into his bag, head just poking out enough to watch the line. “Even in Mementos?”

Akira shook his head. “Perfect vision. Just part of the physical improvements, I guess.”

“Futaba still needs them.”

“Maybe because she feels she does?” Akira offered.

Morga nodded. “That makes sense.”

Both sets of eyes now turned to focus on line and bobber. Raindrops struck the water in a steady rhythm, erasing the city sounds. The droplet’s ripples spreading on the pond erased the city lights as well, and obscured the fish silhouettes beneath.

Akira took a deep breath. The moisture made the evening feel cold, but he found it refreshing. A cup of coffee or hot chocolate when he got home would be just the thing. Right now though, he felt content to enjoy the brisk air.  
He had spent a lot of evenings at home tossing a line into the nearby stream. The pitter-patter of rain, of water splashing against water, reminded him of how it sounded. He looked forward to fishing there again.

“I forward to going home.”

Morgana’s head shot up. “Where’d that come from?”

Something tugged at the line. Akira shifted focus immediately, setting the hook almost instantly. Next, he just had to get a feel for the fish’s weight and movements. It felt strong, but not overly large. Energetic though.

Akira grinned. Perfect warm-up. Reel it in. Shift the rod to ease tension on the line. Let the fish guide the battle. Wear it out. Not so different than wearing out a shadow really. 

It didn’t take long. Akira had the eight inch fish in his live pool within minutes. Another minute and he cast his line again. This time with better bait.

He settled back in. “I love it here.”

“Then why go home?”

“I missed bug hunting this summer. And holding sparklers over the water, just watching the reflection.” He gestured to his line. “Eating fresh caught fish from the lake.”

Morgana perked up. “How fresh?”

“Grilled within an hour of catching.”

“Mreoow. That sound good.”

“Nothing better,” Akira assured him.

“Nothing?”

“Not even Sojiro’s curry.”

“I want some.”

“Next summer then.”

“Yeah. And I’ll be a human again, so I can help you catch them.”

“You’re invited either way,” Akira assured his friend.

“You know it.”

Akira smiled. For all he loved living in Tokyo, he missed living in a country town too.

His arms extended outward, a sudden jerk on the line nearly causing him to lose grip on his pole. He lurched forward just to keep hold. 

A huge fin slapped the water. 

Akira pushed up on his feet. He needed to get his arms back in, needed to set the hook. 

Nothing had ever grabbed the line so forcefully here before. 

He grinned at the unexpected challenge.

Pull the rod against his body. Set the hook. Make sure it can’t snap the line.

Or the pole for that matter.

“Hoh! I think ya got it,” the old man shouted, coming up beside him. “I think you’ve snagged the guardian!”

“Guardian?”

Lift the pole. Let out the line. Let it wear. Let it fight back. Don’t waste your own energy. Don’t let it snap the line.

This thing was quite the fighter.

“Been here since before they started stocking the place,” the old-timer explained. “If you can catch him, I’ve got something special for you.”

A warning that something this big lived in a pond this tiny would have been a nice place to start. Then again, the sudden encounter provided a greater thrill. 

“What type?”

“Not sure,” the man admitted. “Only goes for the best bait too.”

The fish stopped struggling. Without warning. Suspicious, but not one to miss the opportunity, Akira began reeling it in. 

This time, he was ready for the sudden pull at the end of the line. He stood firm, letting the fish struggle further away. Keeping just enough tension to make it fight for every centimeter. 

Every time the giant fish paused to rest, he drew it in just a little closer. The old-timer prepped the net. 

“Think this is a two-person job,” he explained.

“No kidding,” Morgana replied. He leaned out of his bag, staring at the thrashing in the water. “How big do you think it really is, Akira?”

“You want the pole?” If Akira didn’t have blisters tomorrow, he’d be surprised.

“Think it’d drag me in,” the old-timer replied. 

The fish was close enough now that they could see it when it slapped the water. If he’d been ocean fishing it would have been a decent sized fish. Here, it left him in awe. Plus, he could make out a double-point tag on it.

“Figure anyone who can snag the guardian deserves all the points we can give.”

No kidding. Fighting this fish was sapping Akira’s energy pretty quickly. He could usually catch about a dozen fish in a night, so he appreciated knowing this wouldn’t cut into his usual point hoarding. 

The old man kneeled, net at the ready. “Just a bit more.” His eyes sparkled in anticipation. They looked like how Morgana’s did when he smelled treasure. 

Actually, how Morgana’s eyes looked right now. 

By the time Akira got the giant to the net, both man and fish were pretty exhausted. Luckily, that meant the old timer could handle netting the giant. 

“Alright. Now, you just hold onto it and we’ll get a picture.” He pulled out his phone. “Want one for yours too?”

Akira nodded, sliding out his own phone and unlocking the screen. Good. No new phantom thief messages. 

The man grinned more broadly than Akira as he took the photos. It took both hands to hold the large fish, and Akira was impressed by its clear weight, a weight they properly measured after the photos. 

Sure enough it was huge. Not only that, but worth about triple points relative its weight. Not to mention the free fishing pass for life he got as part of his reward.

“I wish we could eat it,” Morgana whined. Akira sighed.

“Someone else should get to catch it.” He released his two fish back into the pond. 

“Bet that didn’t relax you though, huh?”

Akira smiled and shook his head. “I feel great.” He lifted up the cat-filled back. “Like there’s nothing I can catch now.”

“Heh. You better be ready to prove it, Joker.”

Akira’s grinned took on a more cocky appearance. “Always.”


End file.
